Vick’s contract could pinch Nnamdi, too

Posted by Mike Florio on February 12, 2013, 1:15 PM EST

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During Monday’s edition of Pro Football Talk on NBC Sports Network, we pointed out that the new contract signed by Eagles quarterback Mike Vick could provide the template for a contract that could be offered to Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer.

It also could be the formula for the Eagles to find a way to keep a former Raiders cornerback who is due to make $15 million in 2013.

Nnamdi Asomugha clearly isn’t the same player he once was. And so the Eagles clearly can’t pay him that much money. With Vick taking a deal with a base rate of $7 million and $3 million in incentives to stay, why not offer the same deal to Asomugha?

Asomugha, who has made many millions and been very responsible with his money, has said he wants to return to Phillu. And he’s smart enough to know that no one will pay him $15 million in 2013.

The real question is whether anyone else will pay him more than what the Eagles would offer, and in turn whether Asomugha is willing to take less to stay in Philly.

By not having guaranteed contracts this type of realistic flexibility is available. The NFL is better off if there would be rules prohibiting guaranteed contracts as well as front loaded contracts through signing bonuses. The trade off to the players union should be establishig a salary cap floor. (I know one is coming next year)

The goal would be to pay players who are currently valuable and performing as opposed to paying players based upon a contract you can’t get out of for years. Such deals make it difficult for teams to recover from past errors and thus erases hope for their fans.

mp4philly says:Feb 12, 2013 1:33 PM

He deserves nothing. Dimitri Patterson was better at corner. He is awful.

southpaw2k says:Feb 12, 2013 1:37 PM

Funny how two years ago he was the #1 targeted free agent, and I remember Ravens fans clamoring for the team to somehow sign him. I hated the idea since I didn’t want $15 million tied up to a defensive back, and two years later what happens? The Ravens are world champs, and Asomugha is a shell of what he was in Oakland. I’d say that worked out pretty well.

He was a product of the Al Davis system. Plus the other corner was either Chris Johnson or Stanford Routt……or Fabian Washington. good man to man corner but that was with linebackers underneath and usually a safety behind. He is good just not elite.

“why not offer the same deal to Asomugha?” Here is why: he stinks anymore and can no longer play corner in this league. On top of that he has no heart and can’t hit anyone. I wouldn’t even give him $800,000 to play special teams

In my opinion I think that Nnamdi is the same player he has always been. He was just misused in the system. Classic case of not using a players strengths and abilities properly. That said, I agree regardless of where he is put on the field, that he is not a top 3 corner.

How can he possibly know what any other team would be willing to pay him while he is still under contract? A blog that loves to slam teams for violating the tampering rules should at least recognize when those rules are implicated.

I’m guessing all these people who are saying, “Nnamdi is still good, it’s just the system”, have never watched an Eagles game. They tried him in zone and man, the let him press and play off. Didn’t matter, any receiver with decent speed blew right past him.

Good cornerbacks have a fairly long by NFL standards shelf life. It is really difficult for me to believe an All Pro player all of sudden can’t play minus a major injury. I’ve seen him go man to man on too many good receivers while in Oakland. He locked the majority down and now less than a year later he can’t play? To tell you the truth over the past two seasons the only player on Philly I saw shine above and beyond was Shady McCoy. The rest of the team as a whole has been disappointing.

I do not see how anyone who actually watched Nnamdi play this season could believe he was just in the wrong system. You’re thinking of 2011, when they moved him all over the field. In 2012 they let him play press coverage on the sideline, and he was terrible at it. I don’t know how he became this bad this quickly, but he is no longer a starting corner back. He can’t run, he’s not physical at the point of contact, he doesn’t tackle, he gives up on plays, and every time he gets burned he points at his teammates. I wouldn’t bring him back to the Eagles at any price. Maybe he can revive his career elsewhere, but I doubt it. He quit on the team, but he seems like a good person off the field, so I don’t really harbor any ill will towards the guy. But he’s been a total disaster in Philly, and it’s time for him to go.

It’s not that he’s not as good as he was, he’s just a poor fit in the system they’ve been running

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whether or not you *really* believe that, his new coach said “football is football” at his first PC as an NFL coach. And if “Chippah” really believes that “football is football” regardless of the system being played, then he’ll axe Naamdi sooner rather than later. If football is football, then you can’t play if you can’t play.

umainebearman says:Feb 13, 2013 5:09 AM

Funny people are forgetting why the Raiders had to cut him loose. He didn’t meet the stats for the incentives in his Raiders contract so the cut gim and didn’t have to pay him a thing. If the greedy Eagles had realized the Raiders where actually very intelligent in that regard and done the same they wouldn’t be in this situation. If they cut him they will be missing a lead tackler in the secondary. Of course most of his tackles where his own team mates but at least he was getting them to the ground.